Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Natalie ._c- on January 8, 2011 at 11:02am

The snickers and ice cream result in better BGs because the fat in them slows down the absorption of the glucose. However, I wouldn't recommend them as a healthy diet!
This is NOT a Type 1/Type 2 difference. Any diabetic will spike from a good helping of carbs without protein or fat to slow it down. So your niece could probably eat that apple if she had it after a roast beef sandwich with lots of beef on it. And some mayonnaise for good measure!
That said, many of us here limit our carbs because we get better BG and weight results. Of course, we are dealing with adult metabolisms. A child needs more calories to support growth, and those can come from carbs. But children also tend to have wider BG swings because of the hormones related to growth and development, and control can be very difficult. I don't think there have been any studies on limiting carbs in children.
In the end, each person has to do what works -- and if a lot of people find that limiting carbs works, then that's what they need to do!

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Permalink Reply by The Diabetic Welfare Queen on January 8, 2011 at 11:06am

Not only that, but having too much insulin on board all the time can be a bad thing.... not just for weight management, but also from the extreme swings of high to low, overnight lows, etc. Limiting how much insulin we need is a very prudent thing when we don't have the proper counterregulating mechanisms in our bodies to effectively deal with it...

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Permalink Reply by Jan on January 8, 2011 at 12:10pm

I do not mean to imply that she eats a lot of snickers bars; we give her chocolate occasionally. I offer ice cream as a dessert but she rarely eats that either. But just noting I have more of a problem with fruit, which she eats every day and we do give it at the end of a meal. We don't forbid food, just do not bring unhealthy problem foods into the house except very occasionally. We don't omit rice, potatoes (use quinoa pasta). Insulin does cover these for her. I don't think she will omit carbs as an adult as she likes carbs, as opposed to meat, cheese. I believe she may omit meat from her diet in the future. So it is important to figure out how to handle the carbs, not omit them. Have brought back cereal as Special K with chocolate as it does not spike like other cereals. Not at all against limiting carbs for adults but would like to see the other side of the story.... adults who eat everything in moderation. Because based on her likes and dislikes of certain foods, that is what I believe she will do. And for Type 2s, yes, reduce the carbs.

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Permalink Reply by Natalie ._c- on January 8, 2011 at 3:46pm

Again, it's NOT a distinction between Type 1 and Type 2 (you betray a lack of understanding of Type 2). Although low-carb diets DO help with weight loss, so do low-fat diets in most of the studies I've seen. And the champion diabetic low-carber is Dr. Richard K. Bernstein, author of The Diabetes Solution, who is a Type 1 diabetic himself.
I LOVE carbs, but cannot eat a portion small enough (of high-carb foods) not to spike my BGs over 200, and I'm still craving more carbs. I would love to keep them below 140 2 hours after meals, as the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists recommends, but even keeping them below 180 is almost impossible if I eat high-carb foods. I don't know how high your niece goes, but I'm going to bet she has a lot more future years to live with diabetes than I do (I've lived with it for 20 years, complication-free). As a child, she can be freer, but when she hits adolescence with its raging hormones, and then adulthood, with its declining metabolism, things may be different -- you are no SHE is going to have to deal with food, and how it affects her. And when she gets on TuDiabetes, we are going to encourage her to read as widely as possible, and think as openly as possible, and make her food choices as best she can for a long, healthy life with diabetes.

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on January 8, 2011 at 11:05am

I agree with your observation that low carb solutions are very popular here. I think that's because they helmp make it eaiser for people to control their BG?

I am not sure how to explain your Snickers observation. It would be interesting to do a perhaps more scientific study of that to see what sort of results people would get? One big advantage that the Snickers would have would be that the carbs are measured in a manufactory manner and the apple is subject to considerable variance?

I don't have 'problems' with cereal, cookies or apple pie either while having pretty decent numbers most of the time. I am not shy about eating carbs but I try to moderate them, as much for the pantsometer as the glucometer. That being said, if I am conservative with the carbs during the week, I get very smooth and stable numbers a lot of the time and, now that I've survived past 40, I am interested in seeing how well I can do?

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Permalink Reply by Jan on January 8, 2011 at 12:25pm

Snickers are actually recommended by pedi endos as a snack before exercise to stabilize the blood sugar, provided blood sugar is high enough that you don't need fast acting sugar first.

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Permalink Reply by Zoe on January 8, 2011 at 12:27pm

Uh, because we would rather avoid high blood sugars ahead of time, than allow them and correct later. Corrections are for "mistakes", not a standard procedure to manage blood sugar. The more time spent above 140, the more time allowing complications to develop. High doses of insulin can lead to insulin resistance, weight gain and miscalculations leading to dangerous highs, lows, or pingponging between the two; all of which I want to avoid. YMMV.

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Permalink Reply by Gerri on January 8, 2011 at 6:37pm

I'm with you, Zoe. Correcting highs, which takes hours, & filling in with carbs to correct lows, isn't my idea of living well.

Something I try not to dwelll on because we don't have a choice, is how many preservatives we shoot into our bodies along with the insulin.

People who have the eat what you want approach don't seem to have good A1cs to back the claims that they can cover what they eat.

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Permalink Reply by Natalie ._c- on January 8, 2011 at 7:05pm

It also seems to me that caretakers of children with diabetes have a different viewpoint than adults living with diabetes. Children really do have different nutritional needs. But I still wonder if their wild swings could be tamed down a little by eating fewer carbs and more protein. Just a crazy thought, because I haven't seen any studies on it.

I'm working VERY hard to control my BGs, and I fully expect to see a MUCH better A1c in late Feb. than when I was eating a lot of carbs!

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Permalink Reply by Gerri on January 8, 2011 at 7:41pm

I don't know about carb requirements for kids, but it's hard to change eating habits when a kid gets older. Just like non-D kids growing up on fast food. I don't see what's healthy about rice & potatoes for anyone. Vegetables yes, starch no. Protein is responsible for growth & development, not carbs. Swings aren't healthy & high BG isn't healthy regardless of age. More difficult to control BG in growing bodies & all the more reason to control the variables that can be controlled.

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on January 8, 2011 at 7:59pm

Carbohydrates are the building blocks of civilization

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Permalink Reply by melody lomax on January 8, 2011 at 7:28pm

I pretty much eat what I want and cover the carbs with insulin. My last A1c was 5.5

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